Homebrew has always been a thorn in Nintendo’s side from their perspective, but a lot of people use the “hack”– including myself at one point– to run goofy indie games, fun applications, and to expand the functionality of their console. One of the lesser-used features of homebrew is open game development. A lot of people can’t get 3DS dev kits for various reasons, so they resort to hacking the console, making “homebrew” games, and releasing them to the homebrew community. The inevitable consequence of this is that people mis-use the hacks and pirate games that people worked hard on.

Goodbye Galaxy Games is working on a potential fix, however, that lets you create and test your homebrew games with nothing more than free PC software and a small 3DS app– all without having to hack the console, and they say that the games can exist without the piracy.

We had all these talks about piracy and homebrew the last few weeks. And the problems with homebrew is that most of these hacks later get abused for piracy means. Now imagine you can just use your retail 3DS to make games, and you don’t need to hack it! No need for a R4 card! No need for weird custom hardware or tools! No need for piracy!

– Goodbye Galaxy Games lead Hugo Smits

The real question for them is whether Nintendo would allow them to release this piracy-free development software on the eShop like they’d like to. I would doubt it, but maybe the Big N is feeling humbled considering the sales of Wii U lately!

Via Goodbye Galaxy Games Blog

Japanese game designer and musician, Kenji Eno, passes away

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Longtime Japanese game designer and musician, Kenji Eno, has died of heart failure. He was 42 years-old.

Gamers will remember Eno for the SEGA Saturn game D as well as its sequel, D2. He was also the leading force behind the WiiWare title You, Me, and the Cubes.

Source, Via

Castlevania – Mirror of Fate helped avoid MercurySteam closure, why the game was delayed

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

After MercurySteam wrapped up development on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the studio was floundering a bit. The team didn’t have any new projects to take on once its game was done. That put MercurySteam in a difficult position, as it would be nearly impossible to continue paying employees.

Thankfully, Konami and MercurySteam eventually agreed on a new Castlevania for the 3DS, which we now know as Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. Before the deal was signed, though, there was a strong possibility that MercurySteam would have been forced to close.

According to Castlevania producer David Cox:

Hyrule Historia reveals canned co-op for Link’s Awakening

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

We have learned an awful lot about the Zelda series with the recent release of Hyrule Historia, and the latest revelation to come out of the pages of the textbook-sized fan service is that the Gameboy oddity Link’s Awakening actually may have had some form of co-op at one point.

The information comes in the form of development documents for the game, one of which includes a picture of two Links fighting a boss with the note “What’re we gonna do about 1P mode?”. This would certainly indicate they had briefly considered the option at one point, though I would be skeptical if someone told me they actually ever programmed the option in to try it out.

Via Destructoid

WWE 2K14 coming this fall, Yukes and Visual Concepts working together

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

WWE has offered up some of the first comments about the transfer of its wrestling rights to new owner Take-Two Interactive.

As previously mentioned, 2K will publish all WWE titles going forward after THQ sold its assets last month. A new five-year deal is in place.

Fans can look forward to the next title, known as WWE 2K14 (as opposed to WWE ’14), this fall. Yukes will remain as the primary developer behind the annual wrestling releases, but Visual Concepts will assist the studio from here on out.

According to WWE executive VP of consumer products Casey Collins:

“We looked at a lot of different leaders in the industry and talked to all of the big guys, and for us, we had been with THQ for so many years, it was nice to finally go out and date a few other companies and see what kind of thought process they had about the video game industry going forward. As we look at the next-gen systems coming out, whether that’s this holiday or next holiday, we want to make sure we align our property with who we thought would be a leader going forward on these next-gen systems. With Yukes, we have a lot of history, and we’ve been very happy with what Yukes has done in the past. What we’re going to do moving forward is meld Yukes with the team at Visual Concepts, so we can have the best of both worlds. Having Yukes’ experience and then getting the Visual Concepts guys on board with them, we think this is going to be a dynamic duo.”

The new WWE game-making team will include “some of the key designers behind the WWE gaming franchise” from THQ. Additionally, “the THQ Fight Team is also being brought over, and they’ll report directly to Visual Concepts. Their experience in the marketing, their experience in the development, their experience with our franchise for years. We thought that it was very valuable to keep that continuity.”

Source, Via

Nintendo will be at Gamescom this year

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories | 0 comments

Nintendo decided to leave Gamescom behind in 2012. This year, however, the company will be returning to the expo.

Tim Endres, Gamescom project manager at organiser Koelnmesse, commented on the news:

“Nintendo’s return is an absolute highlight for our community, exhibitors and trade visitors from around the world.”

Source

Game Center CX – Fire Emblem show

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Videos | 0 comments

Activision lays off 30 staffers

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Activision has confirmed layoffs of about around staffers today. Kotaku has heard rumblings that quite a few Treyarch employees were included with the dismissals, but Activision says that the majority stems from separate divisions such as the section handling licensed titles.

The company said in a statement:

“Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues—this is an ongoing process. In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate. Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard’s employee population. We are offering those employees who are impacted outplacement counseling services.”

Activision also offered up the following regarding Treyarch:

“Now that we have launched Black Op II, we are taking a minimal reduction in staff to better align our development talent against the needs of DLC development. The release of the DLC will not be impacted by this move.”

Source

Ubisoft hosting mysterious Assassin’s Creed event next Wednesday

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments

Ubisoft is sending out mysterious invitations for some sort of Assassin’s Creed event taking place next week. MCV writes on Twitter that the invite lists a February 27 date, which would be next Wednesday.

Might it be time for the reveal of Ubisoft’s next Assassin’s Creed game? During the company’s latest financial call, CEO Yves Guillemot teased that information would be shared “very soon”.

Not much is known about the next Assassin’s Creed. What we do know is that it will feature a new hero and time setting, and is being developed by an “all new team”.

The next Assassin’s Creed will launch before April 2014.

Source